Cort Johnson Launches New Site; Adios to Phoenix Rising

The following is Phoenix Rising founder Cort Johnson’s open letter to the ME/CFS & FM community, dated December 28, 2012.

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Goodbye to Phoenix Rising

Eight years after creating Phoenix Rising and two and a half years after turning it into a non-profit I am leaving Phoenix Rising and creating a new website. I don't think either the Board of Phoenix Rising nor I want to get into the nitty-gritty of what happened.

The most important factor for me was the Board's desire to have complete control over the organizations decisions. I was offered the opportunity to be a paid blogger but that was not enough for me. I, of course, need to take responsibility for my part in creating a situation in which something like this could occur.

Obviously this wasn't how I or they intended this to turn out but it does happen from time to time with non-profits; it happened, for instance, with the CFIDS Association on a much grander scale about 15 years ago.

The Board and I are aligned on our basic goals for Phoenix Rising and I support the work they're engaged in. Despite its large presence on the web Phoenix Rising has always been a very small organization. Each Board Member has contributed a great deal of time and effort to PR and I honor their commitment and I wish them and Phoenix Rising well in their future endeavors.

Hello to, Err…?

The Name Problem - Oddly enough choosing a new name for the website was maybe the most difficult and perplexing part of this whole endeavor. After a great deal of head-scratching I punted... The new website is at an easy to remember temporary URL – www.CortJohnson.org.

The name on the site now is Health Rising and I'd love to have more suggestions... Everything on this site except for the blogs themselves may be temporary; the location, the name, the look and feel…it may all very well change…drastically.

Support - The site is not a non-profit but I could use your support in several ways. Donations, of course, are very helpful. Testimonials will be very helpful to build up the site and you can find a testimonial page here. Anybody skilled in Wordpress, PHP or CSS will greeted with open arms. :-) We also have Amazon.com stores on the site.

Thanks - Thanks to everyone who supported me over the last couple of months and a special thanks to Simmaron Foundation, the website’s first sponsor, which provided critical help.

The Blogs! - My production slowed down as the Board and I struggled over the next steps to take but will speed up quickly in the new site. I encourage you to sign up for the blog and the monthly newsletter. (Be aware that the program does not let you know that you signed up... It will send you a email validation.)

The present site is small. Besides the blogs it will focus on providing information more efficiently to the ME/CFS/FM communities. More on that later.